The use of companionway closures is a very old art and has been commonlyused in boat designs for boats of many types. The usual and customary type of doors are constructed in three parts, on smaller vessels such as is contemplated by the present invention, two swinging doors, each one mounted on opposite sides of the companionway passage, are joined with the edges together when the doors are in a closed position. A third panel is hinged above to move vertically, raised up when in the open position, and lowered down to meet with the upper edges of the lower swinging doors, when in the closed position. This type of closure is traditional, but presents a number of serious problems and requires continous maintenance. The traditional door described is usually fabricated of teak wook and although generally attractive in appearance, does not seal well against water leakage, is slow and clumsy to use, requires a wider companionway to accomodate the swinging doors, and requires a frequent re-varnishing of the wood to maintain an attractive appearance. An additional disadvantage present is that such traditional doors usually do not admit light, resulting in a darkened cabin when the doors are closed. Other problems are present, such as: Corrosion of metal hinges and other hardware and latches used to keep the doors in an open position or in a closed position.
By contrast, the present invention effectively eliminates many of the above problems. By sliding to the side of the companionway entrance, the single panel of the present invention eliminates the usual hinges, and being installed outside of the companionway, permits a more narrow passageway to be used. The angled upper portion of the panel of the present invention eliminates the need of a hinged upper panel such as found in the traditional type of door. The use of a plastic doorpanel eliminates re-varnishing problems, the resilient seal of the present invention eliminates leakage problems, and the translucent properties of the plastic sliding door panel eliminates the lack of light within the cabin structure. The extruded plastic channel rails together with the plastic roller wheels presents practical hardware that is truly non-corrosive.
Although the present invention employs some of the features that are common to the prior art, the novel arrangement of the various components thereof presents a novel and effective construction arrangement for a sliding companionway entrance closure.
The present invention provides a single panel sliding door that is of substantially heavy plastic material. The panel is substantially vertical at the lower portion, an upper portion extending away from the vertical portion at an angle. An open plastic track is provided at the lower edge to receive low-friction rollers that are mounted at the lower edge of the door panel. A second open track is mounted at the upper end of of the angled portion to receive additional low-friction rollers mounted at the edge of the upper portion of the panel, thereby providing low-friction support to both the lower edge of the door panel and to the upper portion.
A resilient and easily compressible seal is mounted between the cabin structure and the sliding door panel to seal against water, such as rain, spray, and breaking waves, as well as dust and undesireable noise. The seal is of a soft low-friction plastic material, and like the other major component parts of the present invention, is non-corrodable.
A recent search of the patent office prior art of record produced the following references:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,569,763 by Hofferberth teaches a top-opening cold box with horizontally sliding doors, however, the device has two doors, both of which are flat on a single plane, and neither of which extend into a verticle plane, and does not disclose the construction of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,547 by Maxwell discloses a structure, that upon first glance, resembles the present invention but unlike the present invention, the Maxwell structure has rollers only at the bottom and not at the top. Furthermore, the Maxwell structure has side panels, not included in the present invention, as well as multiple panels on the other surfaces. The structure is that of a laterally movable green house that can also serve as a solarium. This patent does not teach or disclose the arrangement or construction of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,629 by Ahn discloses a green house with an angular sliding roof. Unlike the present invention, this structure has two angular top surfaces that do not extend downward into a verticle panel and all rollers are positioned at the top of the sidewalls. This reference also does not teach or disclose the arrangement or structure of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,613,844 by Mounce discloses an open top display box that bears some resemblance to the present invention. The disclosure, however, teaches a structure having one horizontally sliding closure that moves away from the front of the structure rather than laterally as provided in the present invention. The angled front panel of the Mounce structure is fixed and does not move.
Numerous other patents disclose various methods or hardware for construction of flat plant verticle sliding doors, but not teaching, disclosing or anticipating the construction of the present invention are found. Examples are:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,507,497 by Bowers, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,524 by Budich, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,659,939 by Grieg, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,425 162 by Halpern, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,704,866 by Grossman, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,627,092 by Grossman, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,747 by Craigon, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,181,331 by Metzger,
Of greater interest is U.S. Pat. No. 2,646,949 by Saulnier. This patent discloses a sliding canopy for aircraft that extends over the cockpit and passenger seating compartment in a manner somewhat similar to the present invention. Unlike the present invention, the angled canopy does not extend into a verticle form as it is intended for occupants to climb down into the aircraft, rather than to walk in as into a water-craft companionway entrance. Unlike the present invention, the canopy is removable or may be jetisoned in flight. The Saulnier device is also moved from an open position to a closed position by the use of crank operated apparatus, and is further absent the low-friction rollers at the upper section as provided by the present invention.
As demonstrated by the foregoing, it becomes readily apparent that the present invention presents a novel and useful departure from the prior art as will be better understood from reading of the summary and detailed description that follow.